Tag Archives: Fitness Goals

I’m pretty sure I’ve written about this topic before, so I’ll try not to rant about it too much here. But, you know me: when I need to get something off my chest, half the time, if I don’t blog about it, then it ends up festering, and that’s not helpful or enjoyable for anyone involved.

I want to talk about losing weight.

Specifically, my journey to do that and how half the time, it’s a bigger mental game than anything else. And most of the time, it’s that mental game that is more detrimental or harder to deal with than any lifestyle change I’ve made since I started seriously pursuing this journey, a little over a year ago.

You see, I’ve lost 30 pounds out of my 40 pound goal. I knew the last ten pounds would be hard to lose, but they’ve been particularly troublesome, especially since I haven’t really gotten to work out much, thanks to the cold weather and the fact that I’m not to the point where I’ll work out, regardless of how cold it gets (and honestly, I’ll probably never get to that point). I’ve gain a little and lost it again, but mostly maintained. Which is a good thing, but I find myself getting frustrated that I haven’t really made any forward progress on losing those last ten pounds.

There are a couple of reasons for that, honestly.

One, I haven’t ran consistently since November, which is a huge aspect (and was the only element, for most of this) of my working out routine. I haven’t eaten less to make up for the calories I’m not burning, so it makes sense that I’m maintaining, instead of losing.

I also started doing some strength training, so even if I was stuck indoors, I wouldn’t just be sitting around and doing nothing. Not nearly as high in calorie burn as running, but after only doing that routine for a little over a month, I’ve felt my body change in the way it looks and is shaped. I’ve felt myself get stronger. So there’s a good chance that some of that weight I have now is muscle weight, instead of fat.

I also still have splurge days. Granted, I will admit I could do a better job at not going completely overboard, when those days come up (usually Saturdays, if not the entire weekend, when I don’t have a routine that I follow as much), but I do have those, because sometimes, I just want to eat a little extra and be a little lazy. And that’s totally okay, too, even if it slows down my progress a little bit.

All in all, I’m not doing too badly.

Yet I keep fixating on that number on the scale, how I still haven’t “truly” achieved my goal, since I haven’t hit the number I initially set out to hit.

You know and I know it.

That’s bullshit.

I may not have lost 40 pounds, but I have lost 30. My weight may fluctuate a little bit, but I have keep up a consistent workout routine and changed my eating habits to be healthier and more conducive to the lifestyle I want to live and the body I want to have. I have proved to myself that I can create this lifestyle and keep it up, even when I make mistakes or have to recover some lost ground when I slip up. I have developed a confidence and a self-love with my body that I’ve never had before.

I’d say I’ve achieved a damn lot, even if that number on the scale still isn’t exactly where I want it to be. Even if I have cheat days that sometimes go overboard, like last weekend. Even though my own brain tries to diminish my progress by pointing out what I haven’t yet achieved, thus also trying to derail my ability in attempting to achieve those lingering goals, before I make new ones.

I should be proud of all of that, instead of beating myself up for a bad eating day, a missed workout or that number on the scale. Because at the end of the day, I’m putting in the work, I’m creating a lifestyle I enjoy, I’m happy with who I am and I can look in the mirror without cringing.

Just trucking along. It’s midway through March and I’m wondering, currently, why I’m shivering so much and it’s just miserable cold outside (at least, today it is). I’m definitely eager for it to be truly spring, instead of a random nice day here and there, and then I’m back to putting on a ton of different layers when I get off at midnight every night.

But, enough complaining about the weather. Let’s see how things went last week.

Writing
Long-Term Goal: Write two new books and edit two books. Enter the query trenches.

Last Week’s Goal: Write 6x. Continue meeting word count.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. It’s crazy to think that I’m at 60,000 words and I’m only 20,000 away from reaching my minimum word count goal. I love that I’ve met my word count goal every day that I’ve written in March (!!) so far and I can see the end in sight, even if it’s going to take me a little bit more to get there. Really excited to see where these scenes go, though, and how these ideas come to life on the page.

Weekly Goal: Write 6x. Continue meeting word count.

ReadingLong-Term Goal: Read every day, finishing up some old series and keeping up with new ones.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. Not only did I finish Blood of Assassins, but I also finished an ARC of a book called The Hollow Tree last week. It was a good reading week.

Weekly Goal: Read Age of Myth. Write review. Go by library.

FitnessLong-Term Goal: Continue living a healthy lifestyle and shaping a body I love and am proud of.

Last Week’s Goal: Workout 4x, log food honestly and figure out exactly how I want to try and balance cardio and strength training.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. Worked out 4x, though I didn’t do as much cardio as I wanted to, thanks to the colder week last week. I also haven’t figured out how to balance both strength training and cardio, because I haven’t had a week warm enough to try. (*sigh* See why I started off this post complaining about the weather?) I also ate like shit yesterday and ate way too much and have felt pretty bad about it since then, so I really got to do better eating only when I’m hungry on the weekends and not just eating like shit.

Weekly Goal: Workout 5x, log food honestly and don’t eat like a fool on the weekend.

FinancialLong-Term Goal: Learn to have a healthy relationship with money and build my savings.

Weekly Goal: Check out different credit cards and potentially apply for one.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. I did check out some credit cards and talked to my Mom about it, so I have some ideas in mind. Will prolly apply for one here soon.

Weekly Goal: Stay frugal and start saving to move in August.

SpiritualLong-Term Goal: Reconnect with God and grow personally to live more like Jesus.

Last Week’s Goal: Continue praying. Find devotional book to use with Mom.

Status: Negative, Commander. Didn’t pray very much or find a devotional we wanted to do.

Weekly Goal: Pray.

Carpe DiemLong-Term Goal: Find a reason to smile every day and something to get excited about weekly.

Last Week’s Goal: Get stoked about shopping day with Mom on Saturday.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. And it was awesome.

Weekly Goal: Have a blast in St. Louis and enjoy the three day weekend. But also, find ways to enjoy every day of the work week, too (including celebrating my Mom’s birthday!).This week, same focus as usual: writing and working out are my main two goals. But I also want to work on some mental health stuff. I’m pretty happy and things are pretty great, but I find myself wanting to be lazy or just get frustrated that I have to work, which isn’t exactly the healthiest mindset to be in. Sure, work isn’t always the most fun, but it’s also necessary and important, so instead of being bummed that I have to work, why not get stoked about how productive I an be or how many people I can help out? So that’s going to be a focus this week, too.

Last week was a pretty good week, all things considered. Productive, wonderful weather that I’m already missing, as it’s predicted to drop a little bit once again this week, enjoyable and only a few little spurts of random negative emotion, here and there. I still need to work on maintaining a more happy mindset and living in the moment, but overall, I’m pretty stoked with life and where I’m at, and with all the promise the future still holds for me.

Writing
Long-Term Goal: Write two new books and edit two books. Enter the query trenches.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. I’m really stoked to already be at 45,000 words. And I’m about to get into the heart of the story, I think, and really start picking up the pace and the action, so I’m pretty darn stoked about that, too. Hoping the increase in action makes meeting those word count goals a little easier, for the second month working on this story!

Weekly Goal: Write 6x. Continue meeting word count.

ReadingLong-Term Goal: Read every day, finishing up some old series and keeping up with new ones.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. Gosh, Kings of the Wyld was such a fantastic book, I had a blast writing that review. I’m about a third of the way through Blood of Assassins and I’m excited to see where this book is headed!

Weekly Goal: Finish Blood of Assassins. Write review. Start new book.

FitnessLong-Term Goal: Continue living a healthy lifestyle and shaping a body I love and am proud of.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. I walked almost 15 miles last week, which was fantastic. I also logged my food honestly and finally resisted to have doughnuts this morning during DnD, so I’m off to a good start, this week!

Weekly Goal: Workout 4x, log food honestly and figure out exactly how I want to try and balance cardio and strength training.

FinancialLong-Term Goal: Learn to have a healthy relationship with money and build my savings.

Weekly Goal: Pay bills, pay off phone and put money into savings.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. It was a really sad feeling, to get paid and get my tax return all within a span of a few days, only to see all that money disappear thanks to bills and paying off a loan. But, instead, I should be thankful that money was there in the first place and I’ve been able to keep up my plan of putting $100 into savings every month so far, including March already, so I’m pretty stoked about that.

Weekly Goal: Check out different credit cards and potentially apply for one.

SpiritualLong-Term Goal: Reconnect with God and grow personally to live more like Jesus.

Last Week’s Goal: Pray.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. I do still need to work on this, but I did pray at least once last week that I thought was actually a really good…prayer session, I guess you could call it. I felt like I talked with God honestly and openly, with only minimal distractions, so that was really nice.

Weekly Goal: Continue praying. Find devotional book to use with Mom.

Carpe DiemLong-Term Goal: Find a reason to smile every day and something to get excited about weekly.

Last Week’s Goal: Smile every day.

Status: Affirmative, Commander.

Weekly Goal: Get stoked about shopping day with Mom on Saturday.Going to continue working on book two in the Artemis quintet, as my goal is to reach 80,000 words by the end of this month. It’s going to be a challenge, but if I keep up with what I’ve been doing so far, I think it’s totally doable. I’m also hoping to really start adhering to a schedule, working out wise, where I start getting up on time in the mornings and get to work straight away, instead of being sluggish and sleeping in. I also want to try and make something different to eat for dinner this week, instead of my usual fare, and try to do my hair everyday.

I’m hoping, with starting out each morning with working out and doing my hair each day, I can start the day off right and continue feeling confident and productive throughout the rest of the day.

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind. With a bunch of ice hitting us throughout the week, it was a weird week, because I didn’t have to go into work for two days. So instead, I got to spend a lot of quality time with my PS4 alongside my boyfriend and that was really nice. Plus, went to a concert that I had a blast at, got to see my family (even if it was only for a small amount of time), watched my ‘Hawks win 14 CONSECUTIVE BIG TWELVE TITLES, had two really fun DnD sessions and got half of my sleeve filled it (and man, is my arm sore).

And that was just the fun stuff.

Here’s how the goals went:

Writing
Long-Term Goal: Write two new books and edit two books. Enter the query trenches.

Last Week’s Goal: Write 6x. Continue meeting word count.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. I only wrote five times, instead of six, but honestly? Five times is pretty freakin’ great. A few of those sessions, I was checking every 300 words to see if I’d met my word count for that day yet (in other words, it was grueling to do so). Other days, I flew past it, writing an additional 1,000+ words. Despite the up and down of how writing feels each day, I love that I’m keeping up with it consistently and putting it before practically everything else. Plus, I came up with a scene that is going to make the story much more exciting, if a little more difficult for my characters. This is always a good thing.

ReadingLong-Term Goal: Read every day, finishing up some old series and keeping up with new ones.

Last Week’s Goal: Finish Kings of the Wyld. Write review. Read every day

Status: Negative, Commander. I’m a little over halfway done with this book and I’m still loving it. A few snow days last week, however, had me spending a lot more time with my PS4, instead of reading. But I’m okay with that.

FinancialLong-Term Goal: Learn to have a healthy relationship with money and build my savings.

Weekly Goal: Stay on budget and put some more money into savings.

Status: Negative, Commander. I didn’t put any money into savings and spent a little more last week than I usually do, thanks to the concert and a random GameStop sale.

Weekly Goal: Pay bills, pay off phone and put money into savings.

SpiritualLong-Term Goal: Reconnect with God and grow personally to live more like Jesus.

Last Week’s Goal: Pray each night

Status: Negative, Commander. Still really need to work on this.

Weekly Goal:. Pray.

Carpe DiemLong-Term Goal: Find a reason to smile every day and something to get excited about weekly.

Last Week’s Goal: Smile every day at work.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. Considering we had two snow days last week, this wasn’t too hard to do.

Weekly Goal: Smile every day.This week, after receiving a rejection over my manuscript I was really bummed to get, I’m going to really focus on continuing to write the sequel, if for no other reason than because I love it and I want to find out what happens next. I might also work out a little less, since my arm is healing, thanks to the new ink, and my tattoos always need a little extra care/love when they are healing, but I’m hoping, if the weather stays above freezing, to go on some walks and still stay active, even if I’m not working up too much of a sweat.

Otherwise, it feels like the first week in a while that I haven’t had something come up, so I’m actually working a full work week. It feels weird, but I’m excited for March and everything it has in store!

Last week was a pretty awesome week! Stayed on top of all my writing goals, ate well and worked out consistently, plus had a day that broke 60 degrees, so managed to even workout outside and enjoy the beautiful weather, as well.

I started my period in the middle of last week, however, and it hit hard over the weekend, especially emotionally. I’ve either been sad (to the point of crying) or angry, for no apparent reason (and honestly, it’s just annoying). I definitely want to work on being happier, this week, and not letting my emotions gets the best of me, hormonal imbalance or otherwise.

Writing
Long-Term Goal: Write two new books and edit two books. Enter the query trenches.

Last Week’s Goal: Write 5x. Continue meeting word count.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. I did manage to write 5x last week, which I’m really stoked about. A couple sessions were a bit harder than others and one session, I did fall short of my writing goal for that day, but I am still ahead slightly on my overall word count goal, so for that, I’m pretty grateful. I’m excited for a couple of scenes that I should write this week and to have already hit 20,000 words, so I’m stoked to continue that process and continue writing this story.

Weekly Goal: Write 6x. Continue meeting word count.

ReadingLong-Term Goal: Read every day, finishing up some old series and keeping up with new ones.

Last Week’s Goal: Finish Embers of War. Write review to come out on the 20th. Start new book!

Status: Affirmative, Commander.

Weekly Goal: Finish Kings of the Wyld. Write review. Read every day.

FitnessLong-Term Goal: Continue living a healthy lifestyle and shaping a body I love and am proud of.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. I didn’t check out Rock Chalk Park, but I did work out 4x (including a four mile walk that was ridiculously heavenly, even if I was also ridiculously sore afterwards). I also logged my food accurately and honestly (and consistently) and only had one bad day last week, eating wise, but I blame my period, 100%.

Weekly Goal: Workout 4x. Keep up good work!

FinancialLong-Term Goal: Learn to have a healthy relationship with money and build my savings.

Weekly Goal: Stay frugal. Reevaluate finances

Status: Negative, Commander. I didn’t look at my finances like I planned, but I did stay frugal, so sorta like a half win/half lose situation.

Weekly Goal: Stay on budget and put some more money into savings.

SpiritualLong-Term Goal: Reconnect with God and grow personally to live more like Jesus.

Last Week’s Goal: Actively work on lessening mental tangents during prayer.

Status: Negative, Commander. Still really need to work on this.

Weekly Goal: Pray each night.

Carpe DiemLong-Term Goal: Find a reason to smile every day and something to get excited about weekly.

Last Week’s Goal: Have way too much fun on Valentine’s Day. ❤

Status: Affirmative, Commander. Valentine’s Day was positively wonderful. This week, I get to meet my parents for lunch and am (starting) to get my sleeve filled in, color wise, so it’s a pretty busy weekend on top of usual DnD shenanigans.

Weekly Goal: Smile every day at work.

So, like I mentioned above, definitely going to focus on smiling a lot more and shoving down the wayward emotions, spawned from anxiety, depression or just my period, and instead focusing on all the good that is going on in my life–and I have a lot of it, right now.

Also working on really honing my routine, including getting up at 9:30am instead of 10:30am (or 11am…), working out as soon as I get up and doing my hair each day (because I definitely feel more put together and confident when my hair is done). Then, I’m hoping to even try a new recipe this week or at least make something a little bit different to eat, instead of my usual go-to meals. And, of course, keep up with writing and keeping it a priority.

I can see progress happening and habits forming. No time–or plans–to relent now. I’ve got dreams to achieve.

Last week was a lot of, “Hey, how are you feeling?” or “Welcome back to the land of the living,” which was both sweet and got old really quickly really fast. Yet it was really nice to get back into some sort of routine with work, writing and working out. I really needed that. The fact that I was able to meet my writing goals and eat a lot better (until the weekend) were some boosts my confidence and belief in myself definitely needed. Knowing that I can provides some great forward momentum, which is exactly what I plan to do.

Writing
Long-Term Goal: Write two new books and edit two books. Enter the query trenches.

Last Week’s Goal: Write 4x. Meet (or exceed) word count.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. So, apparently writing roughly 1,900 words four times a week (and then another 1,000 on Fridays, since I put writing 5x a week as my writing goal on WriteTrack) is a lot harder than I thought. I’m going to write a blog post about it, hopefully this week, but I’m really proud that I not only wrote four times last week, but with today’s writing, I’m 2,000 words ahead of schedule, which gives me a day’s wiggle room. And that’s awesome.

Weekly Goal: Write 5x. Continue meeting word count.

ReadingLong-Term Goal: Read every day, finishing up some old series and keeping up with new ones.

Weekly Goal: Finish Embers of War. Write review to come out on the 20th. Start new book!

FitnessLong-Term Goal: Continue living a healthy lifestyle and shaping a body I love and am proud of.

Last Week’s Goal: Get fully healthy. Get well, but be forgiving if your body isn’t ready to work out, yet.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. I actually managed to work out twice last week and ate really well, plus logged my food, resulting in losing a pound! Then, Saturday, I ate like shit, so…we’re getting there. Definitely need to continue working on being more forgiving and less manic about seeing progress in this and instead, focus on making it a lifestyle I enjoy.

Status: Affirmative, Commander. Not only did I make my tax appointment, but I actually got to go last week and it was really lovely to see my Aunt and catch up with her. I also put in money to savings for both January and February, so I’m really stoked about that (but as I’m already seeing some things on the horizon that are probably going to dip into that, I’m now nervous, but oh is the life of constant financial anxiety).

Weekly Goal: Stay frugal. Reevaluate finances.

SpiritualLong-Term Goal: Reconnect with God and grow personally to live more like Jesus.

Last Week’s Goal: Focus.on.prayer.

Status: Negative, Commander. I hardly prayed last week. Really need to change that. But, I did talk with my Mom about getting devotionals (since apparently a problem with shipping caused us to never get ours), so hopefully we’ll make some forward progress on that!

Weekly Goal: Actively work on lessening mental tangents during prayer.

Carpe DiemLong-Term Goal: Find a reason to smile every day and something to get excited about weekly.

Last Week’s Goal: Get excited to get back into the routine and being back amongst the living. Plus, hair appointment Saturday!

Status: Affirmative, Commander. Lots of reasons to smile, last week. Getting my hair done was awesome (especially since I got it done with my Mom, sister and brother). Had a fun game night, met my Aunt for lunch and generally just had a pretty awesome week.

Weekly Goal: Have way too much fun on Valentine’s Day. ❤

I’m not going to lie: this week, I’m most excited about Valentine’s Day, since it’s the first time I’m celebrating it as a holiday and not as Single Awareness Day, like I have the previous 25 years. And my boyfriend and I are kinda going all out and I’m really freakin’ stoked about that, too. But on top of that, it’s continuing the writing grind, looking into a potentially free (!!) gym membership, trying to finish up editing a friend’s book and keeping my fitness and health in check as we (hopefully) start making the turn towards some more consistently warmer weather.

Wishing you good vibes, positive thoughts and marks off your To-Do list!

There are a lot of reasons why I’m really excited for spring to get here: the warm weather, to not feel cold all of the time, not having to worry about trying to drive in the snow, getting to wear tank tops again, the huge fluffy clouds and feeling of renewal with the sun shining every day…

…to run again.

I won’t lie: ever since I started taking fitness and the shape of my body seriously, I got seriously concerned about surviving the winter months. Especially since I can’t afford a gym membership and running outside was just not a option, with how cold it gets here and the less than ideal pavement conditions. Over the holidays, I did really well, only fluctuating between a pound and two. I was still walking over 5,000 steps a day, which is not ideal, but it’s better than nothing.

Then, I got sick with the flu and hardly moved at all for two weeks. And this past week, I ate worse than I have in…well, a long time. Don’t get me wrong: the food was good, but I completely threw out all of the lessons I’d learned, through Naturally Slim, which were some key components to the healthier lifestyle (and weight loss that accompanied) I was creating.

I had to force myself to weigh this morning, because I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.

It was, “You just gained five pounds in one week” kinda ugly.

I wasn’t that surprised, honestly. It reflected the time after being sick and not moving, not eating well and not taking the best care of myself, while also trying to get back to being 100% health wise to begin with. On top of that, there was also a lack of willpower, when I’d snack even though I wasn’t hungry, drink my calories and just eat poorly, even though I knew, mentally, that wasn’t what my body needed or had become accustomed to.

I’m absolutely 100% disappointed in myself.

Today, I returned back to the principles I knew. I’ve been drinking water, I got back to my normal eating schedule (and logging my food, something I haven’t been doing, either) and am back eating within my needed calorie range. I also did some indoor exercises today that aren’t going to help with weight loss, but I want to get stronger and strengthen some muscles, and these are exercises I want to incorporate into my routine, once I’m able to run again, so I’m doing cardio and weights. Plus, working up at least some sweat was needed.

I did all of this instead of beating myself up (too much) or giving into despair and diving even worse, abandoning everything I learned and worked for in the past year.

In that way, I’m proud of myself. The scale provided me with the reality check of how easy it is to let your habits slip between your fingers and how easy it is to slip up.

Yet I also got the reality check that I’m putting too much pressure on the number on that scale.

Honestly, looking in the mirror, I’m not seeing too much a difference, physically, now that I added those five pounds back. Granted, I still plan on getting rid of them (and more besides, to reach my end goal), but I’m not suddenly the whale I feel like. I do feel not as well, though. I’m getting hungrier easier and I can tell I’m wanting to eat more, even though I know I don’t need to. Yet I know, I continue to work and shape my body the way I want and that number on the scale was the same as it is now, I’d be okay with that, because I’m still looking and feeling the way I want.

So why am I beating myself up so much now?

I think about this a lot, this change I’ve made in my life. I stress about it often, as well; fearing going back to where I once was, where this wasn’t an important aspect of my life. I actually really enjoy it. I like being in charge of how my body looks and feels (as much as I can) and shaping it into something I’m proud of. Yet I don’t like getting stressed out over it; for beating myself up when I slip up or when my progress falters ever so slightly. Five pounds is a lot, yes, but it isn’t something I can’t conquer. Plus, I learned how strong my willpower will have to be in the winter (or how I’ll have to adjust my wallet to make having a gym membership a necessity, in the future), which is a good lesson to learn, too, even if it means I have more work ahead of me to reach my ultimate goal.

It’s always a learning process, deciding to take your health in your hands and getting into fitness. Honestly, though? Learning to be forgiving is probably the hardest lesson I’ve encountered so far. Right now, all I want to do is beat myself up for messing up, but really?